Thursday, 7 February 2008

strange

i just flicked through the boring german version of facebook (studivz...) and checked out old school mates. and on one someone asked what happened with some others and me. the guy who asked this, is from brasil and had been on an exchange to germany around 11 years ago. made me smile that he still remembered some of the names. and it reminded me that times have bloody changed. there was another incident earlier this evening when a mate from germany told me that he met some lads from my old school in a pub. one of those lads was going to oxford and my mate said that he would know someone in the uk. saying this, it turned out they were my old class mates... and they knew what i am doing here. gossip travels faster than light.

Tuesday, 5 February 2008

For Queen and Country...

There is this one ad on TV, you probably have seen it if you are watching British television. A guy is punching something into a computer and talking about his job. that he could have taken up a job with a big IT company and earned a lot of money. but that he enrolled for the royal navy, because its so challenging and he comes around. then he crawls around a computer, looking for a fault and says "well, you know, but sometimes we also just switch the on-off button like the normal geeks." and then you see a big submarine at full speed in the water.
Every time i see this ad i think to myself, what the f*** is he doing?!?! "well, we just launched a nuclear missile because we suddenly lost power in our computer-driven firing system. sorry lads..." Trust the royal navy, for queen and country.

Saturday, 2 February 2008

what i am doing? well, its pretty fast told: first i did stats, then i did reading, and now im doing the writing. in between there are a numbers of other things. the list would be long. today i wrote on bits and pieces. so will i tomorrow. at the end, which is around end of feb for the moment, there should be 6 papers/articles á 20 pages and a few new bits for chapters. but be reassured, in my insaneness i invented a strategy so its capable.... in 2 weeks or so, there will be a week off from uni, but its already occupied with other things.
bla bla bla. before going into detail, i guess 3 on the job would have plenty to do. and i feel ashamed
i had this in an earlier post but decided not to publish it then. anyhow, you have to add "i listened to bbc suffolk" beforehand...

but how should i have got to know otherwise that the suffolk regiment returned to bury st. edmunds the other day?!? i saw them, not because of them but because of bury st. edmunds. went there. was the third time and still has some attraction. those blokes were children. sorry for that. they really are, both blokes and children. i think it must be strange for them to come straight from being under fire into their mum's arms (or their girls). but no one forced them to do so in the first place. its free choice, doing service. even tho the service may entail the loss of life. i went to radio 4s "any questions" the other day on campus. i actually asked a question but it wasnt picked. however, there was one about the rather inappropriate treatment of british soldiers. barracks are run down, payment low, and utmost, no recognition. sure. i think it was gordon the other day who said that every soldier should wear uniform while off duty to show proudness. well, why? there was a "vote" by the moderator at radio 4, asking the audience who thinks that british soldiers are treated bad. around 95% raised their hands, scary. i was sitting there and couldnt really believe it. i thought, this is university, people should have a critical mind. people should think about whether war really is the continuation of politics with other means or not. another reason, there are much more people out there doing their service to society. public service employees. nurses. academics. volunteers. recognition? treatment?
what was the figure i had in an earlier post? 500,000,000,000 US Dollars are spent by the US government for military purposes, in official accounts. intermit it for one year only and climate change could be impeded, starvation held, poverty fought, education topped up, and there would be still enough left. i know its a silly calculation and the usual argumentation. if if if. but why not trying it? you always can invade later on... ok. i stop here.

Thursday, 31 January 2008

the last nonsense of the day is probably that article i read in a newspaper today. a co-pilot of a canadian airline freaked out after take off because of a fear of flying. he was battled down and after a emergency stop sent to a mental hospital. chosen the wrong job, i guess. one of my nicest flight story is probably the one where a woman sitting next to me, throw up for about 6 hours on a flight to the us. and she didnt eat anything in between...

Wednesday, 30 January 2008

while being half way through the dish washing i thought to myself that i should charge facebook for my time (and others). this time facebook asked me to help translating it into german. i signed up, why not. but, it saves them a lot of money if the community does it and not a professional translator. likewise with doctors. patients becoming more and more professional. patients help in finding out what illness it is, in the treatment and with various other stuff. and patients dont get paid for it. and to exaggerate, the cash nexus is reversed and we are now in a situation where we pay to work.

so, how does this facebook thingy work? whereever there is an english word i click on it and type in the german phrase. the translation is done while browsing.

Tuesday, 29 January 2008



Do i need to say more?!?! very nice evening and we had a lot of fun!! Bring it on, lads!!

Only the sky is the limit...

... or is it something else? well, to start chronological, today i finished a two days training course. nothing in particular for my phd, but for my other thingy. the course was given my an amazing professor here in the department who can kind of light the fire in you for sociology. it was really interesting and engaging. at one point we should think about something with which we could tell our life story. the first thing coming to my mind were music. apart from other weird things... and the song for all would be pink floyd's brain damage. i know some of you are already bored by this blog. "not again, not another youtube video, not another song, not another ranting on about music..." bla bla. back to pink floyd. ok, my interpretation wont certainly fit entirely, but it somehow reflects the continuous state of my mind. it all feels chaotic; thoughts entering on the right side, racing through my brain and leaving on the left side. and when i dont catch them, i lost them. probably. just from the short abstract below, it seems worse. but be reassured, it isnt. its just me... i absolutely love that song and if i take as a chaotic state of mind and the need to make sense from and with it, it will well fit my life right.

And if the dam breaks open many years too soon
And if there is no room upon the hill
And if your head explodes with dark forbodings too
Ill see you on the dark side of the moon

The lunatic is in my head
The lunatic is in my head
You raise the blade, you make the change
You re-arrange me till Im sane
You lock the door
And throw away the key
Theres someone in my head but its not me.

And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear
You shout and no one seems to hear
And if the band youre in starts playing different tunes
Ill see you on the dark side of the moon

(I know I wrote part of the lyrics before here, it's not that bad..) but it would only be half the current story. there are other songs as well. i written about this before, so no need to repeat myself. there would be manfred krug for a holiday in brittany, keimzeit's kling klang for my first guitar lessons (and some good and bad "after show" parties), CSNY's Sweet Judy Blue Eyes for my first year here, K's Choice's Another Year for cycling home from McDonalds, ... i think you got the idea. so anyhow, for me music would be a good way to tell my story. Anybody interested..?!?

Right now, this is on. Elton John, Rocket Man



I love the whole arrangement. Nice one. I want to be a rocket man too, only the limit is the sky. Is it? Listening carefully to the lyrics, rather not the case. Five days a week, he is a rocket man. On the weekend he's a husband. But Mars isnt the place for him, because its so cold and he doesnt understand science either... i leave the rest of the interpretation to you. but the prof was also talking about his experiences on the couch and with scientists. For me I take it simple. I want to become a were rabbit and then take off as a rocket man. Fly everywhere I want to. Maybe even backwards, and faster than light. Then I might have a realistic chance to travel back in time and I would, consequently, have more time now. But it's gonna be a long long time. For whatever comes around.

Other than this? Jazzing around, with Supercharged. And being happy. I will see you on the dark side of the moon...


p.s. yeah, i promised you some pics from germany. they will come, just give me time.

Saturday, 26 January 2008

The end is far away

last week i bought a flower/plant in tesco, which were reduced and didnt look very good. was 50p and i thought to myself, that i give a go and if it dies then i will have at least a nice pot. i watered and put it on the ledge. today i saw it again and had become a very nice yellow flower!! the world is saved for the minute. im happy, how are you?

the great gig in the sky...

...is played by pink floyd. although supertramp is on now, it is the point. the first three, four weeks of this new year have past like seconds and yet i experienced them like month. the year hasnt really started yet but i already had 2 gigs and will have another confirmed 5 this year, plus 4 others... for each 20 pages, some fancy tables, and miles on the road (i need a roadie). in between there is a journal, who wants to. there will be also a gig in the house of commons in spring, although not on my phd topic. but on the relationship between "the kategorischem imperativ, the cash nexus, the thames link and the impact of europa riding across borders" (dont take the last too serious. there was a series in the guardian over the past couple of weeks on greek mythology, i dont know if they mentioned europa and her bull. otherwise, its roman pre-christian mythology. bla, bla. apart from that, i cant write the real name of the project here because otherwise google saves it and i might get in trouble. confidentiality, you know it all...). for the last i squeezed in some statistic sessions every now and then. i can proof the positive as well as the negative sides of the relationship, as usual. i guess i will have to focus on the negative sides... in other words, i will have to bend my tongue into the right direction to lick someone's else bum... it goes even further (my public website has to be adjusted, my CV, my phd sample). supertramp played "good bye stranger" and is now going over to "logical song".
the first gig of this year was really strange. not only that it was in front of my old professors but also it was in german. i was really scared beforehand as these guys know me a bit and what nonsense i spread in their classes. and they know stats. they really do. if you translate essex with its qualitative knowledge into quantitative, you will get the idea. when i worked in germany during the summer i had to answer tough questions about reliability, analyses' methods, confidence levels, factor analysis, cluster analysis, and so forth. up to the point, why using stata instead of spss. questions i can honestly not answer because they are plain nonsense. so given this context, i shit myself. no joking. anyhow, they didnt really come up in the discussion. the thing about german, this is also a torture. i managed to present 60% of my presentation fluently in german. with the other 40 percent, i really had to think hard. to make it short, i cant speak german any more. for basic everyday conversation its sufficient but as soon as it goes beyond that it becomes horrible. i wish i would never have learned it and can sincerely say, im not german. in terms of language, im caught between two seats. i cant speak english and i cant speak german. great. you know what i do with an email of two lines..? i send it to a german proof reader, and this is no joke either. its necessary. why, why were i born as a german...?!?

i dont know if there will be a post like this in the near future again. im fed up with it, honestly speaking. it's roughly 600 days until the end of my phd and im counting the days. and i hate that mourn too much. and i hate that i love it.

ok, im through with it and no pixie like being can tell me otherwise. im off to dance now, recharging my battery and you should do the same!!!

Tuesday, 22 January 2008

a few weeks ago i probably scared the shit out of a berliner (a real one, not the one with jam in it...) i was driving out of town and jumping the lanes. well at one point the car on front of me made a sudden stop and i "kissed" its back. i got out of the car, the other driver as well and we both had a proper men's look at the point where i hit his car. he was suspiciously relaxed and told me it were no deal and that the car in front of him just stopped so fast, and everything is allright and he has to leave anyway and he has a train to catch and it's full moon... he didnt even had a proper look whether something was damaged. usually those guys try to take you to court for attempted murder... i was a bit puzzled i must say. when i got back in the car i heard the answer:


(just hear the first few words until the music starts...)

a look in the mirror and i saw a hoodie with paradise lost on it. so, what did i learn? heavy metal is good and hoodies are the new trend! i could smell his fear and his concern that there might be four big "shelves" sitting in my car, only waiting to beat up an old man just like him...

oh, and heath ledger is dead.

Monday, 21 January 2008

ok, i admit this one is a bit old (originally from the 20th of july). i wanted to write a post about it a couple of month ago but it never managed to pass. anyhow, a few month ago there was a headline a german newspaper about rising suicide rates amongst managers of big french companies. so far, so bad. i think i might use this example for my dissertation because it might show one thing: there is a lot of pressure and managers might not be able to cope with that amount of stress and therefore opt for the "free death". so corporate welfare might be one way to lower that king of stress and a measure to keep s.o. alive. but i dont know how far i will get with this argument.

apart from this, this past week has flown by like a month. i came across this one today



i dont know what to do with the lyrics tho. but i like the song somewhat. and i did enough stats for this month...

Saturday, 19 January 2008

Parlez vous francais?

oui, je parle. magnifique!

"Aide nous pour traduire Facebook de l'anglais a francais pour que tout le monde peut l'utiliser.

Click Translate Facebook pour installer l'application Translations, l'application est produit par Facebook pour que tu peux etre part de la communite de traducteurs."

je fais du fraincais à l'ecole mais je me ne ressouvenis de un mot, sauf termes d'élémentaire... quoi qu'il en soit, parce que je tracai une statut d'information francais, facebook "raisonnet" que je pouvais parler francais très bien... merci!! C'est me rend hereux!!

Friday, 18 January 2008

i just saw 2 pixie-like beings, wavering passing me on the stairs... how beautiful...

Thursday, 17 January 2008

p.s. 2, oh and my new gloves...

p.s.

i "buried" my black shoes with a proper new years, quite surreal tho, new years celebration. later on more on that one

Fast note

How pathetic...!

"niger calceus, laudatio funebris" = black shoe, obituary
"niger omnibus-stella calceus" = black all-star shoe
"caeruleus omnibus-stella calceus" = sky-blue (cerulean) all-star shoe

yep, an obituary for my black shoes, which i couldnt wear any longer. there were scratches everywhere and it wouldnt have made a difference if i were walking barefoot or in shoes (nice feeling when snow melts in your shoes...). the new ones look a bit like heaven around my feets, a nice blue. however, at least the black shoes lasted for almost all of 2007. so in other words, forget about the part "then began their long of..." and read the whole thing as my review on 2007 and a late heartily welcome to 2008!

what i forgot for 2007, i did a few interviews with east germans about their daily life and how they experienced the fall of the wall. im quite happy about it and have been dancing and humming around for the last couple of weeks! this really made me smile! ich steck dir die halbe tüte erdnußchips in deinen zuckersüßen mund...

Tuesday, 15 January 2008

Niger calceus, laudatio funebris

I have come here today,
to say good-bye to the late niger omnibus-stella calceus,
who expectedly died last month after a time of suffering with long rips at their corps.

I still remember the day,
like it were yesterday,
we first met.
It was in January,
me introduced to them,
and to move on with them,
to grow up with them.

We spent together lovely days.
We walked together at beaches and cliffs,
we wandered together through medieval towns and modern cities.
We explored together the English, the Scottish and the German country.

They were always there,
close to me.

We stood together in classes,
we taught together American Society and Statistics.
We wrote together research proposals, PhD chapters and conference papers.
We sat together through board meetings and supervisor meetings.
We presented together theory and research on corporate welfare at conferences.

They were always there,
close to me.

We thought together about my own past and history,
while dancing together in capitalist ASDA.
We read together boring and interesting academic books,
we read together pulp and proper fiction.
We cooked together for a friend, friends, family.
We drank together a pint, a glass of red wine or whiskey.
we were together either dancing the night and soberness away or stayed home for work.
We tried to see the world and life,
the latter sometimes happening when we thought about it and made plans.

They were always there,
close to me.

Then began their long way of suffering.
Rips appeared at their corps.
Long rips, that could not be healed.
The time passed by and their health declined.
Near their end they preferred "air-conditions".
And they made me shiver in the winter,
with its ice and snow.

They were always there,
close to me.

We went together through good times,
we went together through bad times.
We went together through health,
we went together through illnesses.
We went together through harmony,
we went together through arguments.
We went together through relaxation,
we went together through stress.
We went together through happiness,
we went together through woes.

We went together the ups,
and we went together the downs.
But I was never angry with them, because

They were always there,
close to me,
loyal.

I have also come here today,
to say hello to the caeruleus omnibus-stella calceus,
who unexpectedly were born on the second day of this new year.
We already interviewed together managers,
we already gave together a paper in front of my old professors (scary, frightening; shiver...),
we already wandered together the beaches of the baltic sea,
we already wrote together two conference papers,
We already had together a look on statistics for my new, other job.
We already agreed together to revise a possible journal article.
We already had jumping hearts together.
We already spent together bonding time with my brother and his girlfriend.

They will be there,
close to me.

If we have together only half as good and bad times as I had with them, the others,
I and we will be happy.
Finally, good-bye and hello!


post scriptum:
There is some latin in here, bless the 6 years of latin lessons, but I only used non-conjugated words. So all you have to do is to copy and paste "niger", "calceus" etc. into a latin-english dictionary and you will get to know what I mean... or ask (Fortunately, i dont really remember any latin from school, not to mention any grammar...)

Monday, 31 December 2007

nu denn, Guten Rutsch und Gesundes Neues!

Band of Brothers...

My brother and me, when he and his girlfriend visited me in England this year. We love each other, even when we clashed.

Monday, 24 December 2007

Do they know it's christmas...

Before doing the annoying "last christmas, i gave you my hear" by wham, here's cela:nous, my brother's and his girlfriend's band.

I wish you some very nice festive days!



Fröhliche Weihnachten

Geseende Kerfees
Gëzuar Krishlindjet
Gozhqq Keshmish
I'D Miilad Said
Nabidà
Shenoraavor Nor Dari
Bones Navidaes
Mbung Mbung Krismie
Shuvo Baro Din
Mi wisim yufala eerywan one gutfala Krismas
Nedeleg laouen
Vasel Koleda
Bogem h n mh m
Danistayohihv
Hoesenestotse
Glædelig Jul
Fröhliche Weihnachten
Merry Christmas
Jutdlime pivdluarit
Gajan Kristnaskon
Rõõmsaid Jõulupühi
Gledhilig jól
Hyvää Joulua
Zalig Kerstfeest
Joyeux Noël
Bon Nadâl
Noflike Krystdagen
Gilotsavt Krist'es Shobas
Kala Christougenna
Barka da Kirsimatikuma
Mele Kalikimaka
Mo'adim Lesimkha
Okresmesa ombwa
Shubh Naya Baras
Vrolijk Kerstfeest
Selamat Hari Natal
Nollaig Shona Dhuit
Ojenyunyat Sungwiyadeson homungradon nagwutut
Buon Natale
Shinnen omedeto
Sugeng Natal
Gute Vaynakhtn
Seng Dan Fai Lok
Bon nadal
Noeli Nziza
Isangle Krismen
Bon Natale
Appi Krismes
Sretan Bozic
Seva piroz sahibe
Bon Nadel
Wanikiya tonpi wowiyuskin
Prieci'gus Ziemsve'tkus
Linksmu Kaledu
Amazalibwa Agesanyu
Schéi Krëschtdeeg
Selamat Hari Natal
Salama' Natal
Kung His Hsin Nien
Nollick ghennal
Kia orana e kia manuia rava
Streken Bozhik
Festusu Natale
Esimano olyaKalunga gwokombandambanda
Krist Yesu Ko Shuva Janma Utsav Ko Upalaxhma Hardik Shuva
God Jul
Ungil Kurismas
Wesolych Swiat
Boas Festas
Sumaj kausay kachun Navidad ch'sisipi
Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi
Bella Festas daz Nadal
Bachtalo krecunu Thaj
Craciun fericit
Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva
Buorit Juovllat
Bonu nadale
Nollaig chridheil
I'Taamomohkatoyiiksistsikomi
God Jul
Schöni Wienacht
Sretam Bozic
Bon Natali
Vesele Vianoce
Vesele bozicne praznike
Feliz Navidad
Krismas Njema Na Heri
Maligayang Pasko
Ia ora i te Noera
Suksan Wan Christmas
Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce
Veseloho Vam Rizdva
Kellemes Karacsonyiunnepeket
Chuc Mung Giang Sinh
Nadolig LLawen
Winshuyu sa Svyatkami
Quyanalghii Kuusma
Sinifesela Ukhisimusi Omuhle



And a good start into a new year!

And just another version, after a momentary lapse of reason

yesterday, the evening started with this...


if my french were good i could even watch the other clips. but, anyhow it is, i did what the dog is doing in the song...

Friday, 21 December 2007

oh, i have some wonderful days, compadres...

Thursday, 13 December 2007

When do you...

...know you are living too long in one town? when you can give directions to drivers without having to think about it. happened this morning. someone was stranded in colchester's east end but wanted to the west end. i told him to take 'the strand'. and he and his wife were pretty happy, they waved at me when they drove by. nice one.

paracetamol is a nice invention. you are dizzy but no fever. nice.
The other day, i was driving in my car and heard this one.



recently i began to listen to radio. yep, me and radio. i think i wrote something on listening radio here before, that it's almost a nightmare for me, all this top 20 music. mainly electronic, of bands no one will ever hear of again. at least in germany. anyhow. mourning again. as said, i usually hear cds, but had a shift towards bbc suffolk and radio 2.i know, not cool at all. absolutely not cool. leave it there

Wednesday, 12 December 2007

Black "Colourful" Humour

Made me smile when i finally got it. i love this kind of humour...



besides the fact, that the background is serious tho. not making fun of WWI as such.
Everyone knows it. but nice try to educate your (little, fellow) passengers. i love sitting in between kids tho because they dont take my armrest... ;)

Monday, 10 December 2007

Ha

My questionnaire for my research went online today, to test it. and no big problems so far. exciting!

Sunday, 9 December 2007

Did you see the frighten ones

Did you hear the falling bombs
The flames are all long gone
But the pain lingers on
Goodbye blue sky
Goodbye blue sky

or

Snapshot in the family album
Daddy what else did you leave for me?
Daddy, what'd'ja leave behind for me?!?

What is this? Don't worry, i put away my nuts-o-meter, it was beeping the whole day already. it's a completly german discussion and issue.... dont wanna explain... bored with it.

so? what is it?
If I go insane, please don't put your wires in my brain.
If I were the moon, I'd be cool.

ok, yep. ll see you on the dark side of the moon. pink floyd. there are probably three songs everyone knows. money, another brick in the wall part ii, and wish you were here. i kind of couldnt hear it before, sounded too electronic, dunno know. once i heard the wall while being in a traffic jam in the summer three years ago. bloody hot, so windows down and at some point i heard some strange noises. i thought i had a flat tire or parts were falling off my car (which could be likely...). well, no it was just the wall. anyhow. bla bla bla

recently i listened to them again, but also more in the background. on the run sounded quite nice, i skipped money (because i was bored by it) and forwarded to brain damage. then this one sentence in the lyrics "i'll see you on the dark side of the moon". hey, wait. i listened to this one again and again. and then the others as well. and the whole album. forward to the wall. listening, listening, listening. back to atom heart mother. this was really get great. i listened to music and lyrics, it all made sense. listen to the one below. how you slowly become insane with everyday life. meanwhile the music with its crescendo accumulating in eclipse, the last song on dark side of the moon, closing it. to cut it short, pink floyd is a band plus lyrics. sometimes the music is the main focus, like in on the run where there is hardly any lyrics; sometimes the lyrics and the music goes to the background but serves as the stage. then almost every single letter gets its own personal musical note, and is the better. at the moment i like brain damage, mother, another brick in the wall part i, the great gig in the sky, and goodbye blue sky.



so, i was thinking this the other day. somehow itunes and selective hearing somehow destroy some albums' one piece character. you can hear money and grasp it's understanding but the issue of being disappointment, disillusioned, gets lost (so is it with the lyrics i put here). the same with most live albums, the songs can be played on their own but together you get the full impression and the changes between the songs.

no worries, not becoming monotheistic on pink floyd music. also at the moment NERD, Federico Aubele, Fink, Zykos, ... went out yesterday. lots of fun, magnifico :D

Saturday, 8 December 2007

Nuts-o-meter

You wondering why there arent so many posts here? well, i'm currently working on a nuts-o-meter. every time a certain sentence or word is said, which might be just nuts or ridiculous, or generally confused, (so, everything like this post which is only ridiculous) the nuts-o-meter sounds a beep.
And i try to make it small and handy so you can take it with you everywhere you go (always take the weather...). then you could assess your friends nuts-o-ness, your workplaces' (Aussenstelle Julius Kuehn Strasse...), your degree's, basically everything can be assessed everywhere... this will be fun for the whole family and peers. you wouldnt want to miss it!

(my test nuts-o-meter is beeping like hell now...there is a story behind but i spare it, you would have to be german to understand its meaning, and why i.e. motorway or kindergarten are "dangerous" words)